, I set out the next day to see how the Kia EV9 performed on the open road. So, I set out for Socorro, New Mexico, a small town on I-25 with some cool places in easy reach of the CCS charger. Everything went great visiting the two places I set out for. But, despite being failed by Francis Energy, the Kia had some tricks up its sleeve that helped me get out of the bind.The EV9 sips some mid-grade electrons at the ChargePoint station in Socorro.
But, when I-25 was built, they took the most direct route just outside the valley, crossing each and every canyon. This makes for steep hill after steep hill, which in turn makes for eating up a lot of battery. Add the need to go 80 MPH , and you need a lot of premium electrons to make the trip., you’ve probably seen the Very Large Array. It’s a huge array of radiotelescopes that can be spread out as wide as about 44 miles across.
Saturday was the facility’s open house, which meant free tours and scientists to talk to. So, we took the kids to that. It took only about 30% of the EV9’s battery to do that, so we were able to charge up at the new ChargePoint station in Socorro for only 20 minutes and get back there with plenty to spare. The lady who helped us find the special event’s parking commented about how much she liked our “cool car.
After getting some photos, eating dinner picnic style, and doing some easy rock climbing, we started the journey home just as it was getting dark.The EV9 Saves Our Butts From Bad Infrastructure Normally, many EVs won’t let you keep your foot in one position to get steady power, instead trying to up the power when you go up a hill and reduce it for you on the downhill. This can help stupid drivers get a steadier speed without cruise control, but it makes life hard when you’re trying to play the kinetic energy game. The Kia made it easy to let the vehicle gain speed on the downhills and expend the energy going up the next hill.